Social software startups providing products to businesses have been catching the eye of venture capitalists for some time. Thirty-eight of 55 companies identified by Jeremiah Owyang, a partner at the research firm Altimeter Group, received funding.

Social media startups catering to the business market have had a mixed reception from IPO investors but more success finding M&A exits. And they have brought a load of venture capitalists along for the ride.

Bazaarvoice, an online customer ratings and review service that went public last February, has appointed Stephen Collins as its new CEO. Collins, who has been the company’s CFO since 2010, succeeds company cofounder Brett Hurt, who has been CEO since Bazaarvoice’s 2005 inception. Bazaarvoice has also acquired the vertical ad media Longboard Media for roughly $27 million. Longboard, founded in 2008, had raised $6 million from investors.

Bazaarvoice this morning completed its acquisition of rival PowerReviews in a $168.2 million transaction that creates a powerful social commerce company focused on product reviews. One investor to benefit is Menlo Ventures, which says it logged a 3x return on its investment.

Ittycheria co-founded BladeLogic in 2001 and steered it through a 2007 IPO and eventually a $900 million sale to BMC Software a year later. He will invest in enterprise software companies with a focus on cloud-based services and enabling IT infrastructure.

Big data software maker Splunk floated shares at $17 this morning, and they are presently trading at $32.01, an 88.3% rise. The San Francisco company priced them above its anticipated $11 to $13 range and raised $229.5 million.

Bazaarvoice, which is backed by Austin Ventures and Battery Ventures, became the latest unprofitable VC-backed company to file for an IPO. Austin, Texas-based Bazaarvoice filed Friday to raise as much as $86.25 million via an IPO. Morgan Stanley is lead book runner on the deal, which also includes Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. Other underwriters […]